Tv table mount



May 1967 R. H. WANN 3,321,165

TV TABLE MOUNT Filed Aug. 6, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RICHARD H. WANN ATTORNEYS R. H. WANN TV TABLE MOUNT May 23, 1967 3 heets-Sheet Filed Aug. 6, 1965 FIGB I l ///l I/ I!!! l "H FIGB FIG?

INVENTOR .RICHARD H. WANN ATTORNEYS y 3, 1967 R. H. WANN 3,321,165

TV TABLE MOUNT Filed Aug. 6, 1965 3 heets-Sheet L iNVENTOH \RICHARD H. \NANN ATTORNEYS United States Patent a 3,321,165 TV TABLE MOUNT Richard H. Wann, Harrington, IiL, assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., NewYork, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 477,716 6 Claims. (Cl. 248--203) This invention relates, generally, to mounting systems for television sets, and more particularly to a mount which may be locked to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table.

It is now customary for hospitals to offer on a rental basis television sets for installation in patients rooms. In the past, such sets have been installed on tables which were wheeled into the room and placed near the foot of the hospital bed. Other installations have incorporated a television set placed on a shelf mounted to the wall opposite the bed. In either of these installations it has been desirable and necessary to provide a remote control unit so that the patient could operate the set from his bed.

With the advent of the new and smaller transistorized television set, it has become feasible to locate such sets on the small mobile tables which wheel up to the bed and have a table top which projects over the top of the bed to provide a convenient surface for supporting meal trays, books, and the like. Such an installation can be close enough to the patient to eliminate the need for a remote control unit. Additional convenience may be provided by placing the television set on a turntable.

Experience has shown it to be necessary to provide some means of looking a television set to the table, since such small portable sets are readily susceptible to being carried off by hospital visitors or employees.

Along with this need for preventing removal of the television sets by unauthorized personnel, it is also a requirement that authorized persons be able to readily install or remove the set from the table. This is necessary for repair purposes and also since the sets are not permanently secured to the table in any particular patients room, but rather are installed as an optional piece of equipment in the rooms of those patients who desire to rent them. As patients come and go, the sets therefore have to be installed or withdrawn from the individual rooms.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide amounting means for securely mounting and locking a television set to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table, yet which permits the television set to be rotatable relative to the table.

It is the further object of this invention to provide a mounting means for a television set which, while being capable of being securably locked to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table, is further capable of being quickly and easily installed or detached from the table, and does not require any defacement, disfiguration or permanent attachments of and to the top surface of the table.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of this invention will become apparent from the following spec ification when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the mounting assembly of this invention installed on a hospital table.

FIG. 2. is a sectional elevation taken along line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the mounting assembly of this invention, viewed in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 2, and illustrating the clamping linkage in its locked position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the clamping linkage in its unlocked position.

3 ,321,165 Patented May 23, 1967 FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic bottom view of the base plate and turntable portions of the mounting assembly.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but with the turn table indexed slightly from the position of FIG. 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the television mount assembly 10 of this invention, as shown in FIG. 1, is clamped to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table 12. This type of table, commonly found in hospitals, com.- prises a base having castors and a single leg which extends upwardly from the base to support the table top. The table is of such a configuration that the base rolls under the bed and the single leg extends upward along one side of the bed, thereby permitting the table top to be cantilevered over the upper portion of the bed so as to be in front of the bed-ridden patient. The height of the table top from the floor is ordinarily adjustable by means of a hand crank.

A television set 14 of the small transistorized portable type is shown secured to the mounting assembly 10. This mounting assembly comprises a base plate 16 and a turntable portion 18 which is rotatably mounted on shaft 20 in spaced relation above base plate 16. Turntable 1S and shaft 20 are secured to base plate 16 by means of a nut 22. To provide the necessary support for the turntable and to permit relative rotational motion between the turntable and the base plate, a series of ball bearings 24 are carried by a bearing race 26 which is rotatably mounted on shaft 20. The television set is secure-d to turntable 18 by means of mounting screws 28 which extend upwardly through the turntable. Base plate 16 is supported on the table top by four feet 30, which provide supports for the assembly as well as the necessary space for the locking linkage which lies below the base plate.

The locking linkage on the lower side of the base plate comprises a pair of clamping jaws 32, each having securely fixed thereto a dowel pin 34. These dowel pins are insertable within holes 36 in the beveled peripheral frame 38 of table 12. Clamping jaws 32 reciprocate in a plurality of guides 40 in response to actuation of control lever 42, which is pivotally mounted upon shaft 20. The mo tion of the control lever 42 is transmitted to jaws 32 by means of a cross-link 44, rigidly connected to lever 42, and a pair of connecting links 46 freely pivotable with respect to jaws 32 and cross-link 44. As lever 42 is pivoted in clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, the clamping jaws are moved outwardly from the locked position illustrated in FIG. 4 to the unlocked position illustrated in FIG. 5.

To prevent unauthorized persons from removing the television set from the table, a key type lock 48 is provided. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the lock controls the position of a locking bar 50 which is fixed tov the rotatable element of the lock. A notch in locking bar 50 cooperates with a stud 52 on control lever 42 to prevent movement of the control lever from its locked position as illustrated in FIG. 4. When it is desired to unlock the device, the key is inserted in lock 48 and turned, thus turning the locking bar 50 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, and releasing stud 52 and control lever 42.

To discourage tampering with the locking mechanism, a shield 54 is provided at each end of base plate 16. This shield blocks access to the under side of the base plate when the mounting assembly 10 is secured to the table.

It is desirable to provide some means for limiting the amount of rotational movement of the turntable 18, so as to prevent damage to the television set resulting from excessive spinning of the turntable, and to prevent the elec trical cord leading to the television set from becoming tangled in the turntable structure. This stopping means comprises a first screw 56 which projects from the lower face of turntable 18 (see FIG. 2) and a second screw 58 which extends upwardly through base plate 16 (see FIG. 4). These two screws are located on the same turning circle 60, so that the turntable cannot be rotated through more than 360 without these two screws 56 and 58 abutting.

Not only does lock 48 prevent removal of the mounting assembly from the table by unauthorized persons, but a further novel feature prevents disassembling of the television set 14 from the turntable 18. As was discussed above, the television set 14 is secured to turntable 18 by a plurality of screws 28 which extend upwardly through turntable 18. Because of the intentionally small gap between turntable 18 and base plate 16, it is impossible to insert any kind of screwdriver into this space.

To gain access to screws 28, it is first necessary to remove mounting assembly from table 12. Then stop screw 58 is unscrewed from base plate 16. The placement of the holes for mounting screws 28 is such that they lie on turning circle 60, which circle is also the locus of the stop screws 56 and 58. When the mounting assembly 10 has been removed from table 12 and screw 58 removed from its hole in base plate 16, it is then possible to gain access to screws 28, one at a time, through the hole for screw 58 by turning the turntable 18 relative to base plate 16. This feature is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. In FIG. 6, stop screw 58 is in place in plate 16, and it can be seen that no access is available to screws 28. In FIG. 7, screw 58 has been removed and turntable 18 has been indexed to bring one of screws 28 under the open hole. Tool 62, which may be a screwdriver or wrench, is then inserted through the hole in plate 16. Thus, even if an unauthorized person were able to remove the mounting assembly from the table, he might still not realize how to detach the television set from the turntable.

By means of the novel construction provided by this invention, it is possible to notatably mount a television set to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table. This mounting may be securely locked to the table to prevent removal of the television set by unauthorized persons, but may be quickly and easily installed or removed by authorized persons.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of .the following claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the above description be read as merely illustrative of a single embodiment of the invention, and not in a strictly limited sense.

What I claim is:

1. A turntable type of television mount adapted to be locked to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table comprising:

a horizontal base plate spanning a table top;

table engaging clamps slidably mounted on the underside of said base plate;

linkage means mounted on the underside of said base plate and connected to said clamps for selectively moving said clamps to either a first position wherein said base plate is secured to a table, or a second position wherein said base plate is freely removable from a table; a

lock means mounted on said base plate for selectively fixing said linkage and said clamps in said first position;

a turntable rotatably mounted on the upper face of said base plate;

a plurality of screw holes located on a common circle in said turntable, the center of said circle corresponding with the pivot axis of said turntable;

said screw holes accommodating screws passing upwardly therethrough for securing a television set to said turntable;

access to said screws being blocked by said base plate except for a single access hole located in said base plate directly beneath said common circle, which access hole provides access to said screw holes one at a time as said turntable is rotated relative to said base plate, and which access hole is inaccessible when the mount is secured to a table;

whereby a television set may be removed from the mount only when the mount is detached from a table. 2. The mount of claim 1 wherein said access hole is normally plugged by a first stop means which cooperates with a second stop means mounted on said turntable to prevent rotation of said turntable through an are greater than 360 relative to said base plate.

3. A turntable type of television mount adapted to be locked to a mobile over-bed type of hospital table comprising:

a horizontal base plate spanning a table top; table engaging clamps slidably mounted on the underside of said base plate;

actuating linkage means mounted on the underside of said base plate and connected to said clamps for selectively moving said clamps to either a first position wherein said base plate is secured to a table, or a second position wherein said base plate is freely removable from a table;

lock means mounted on said base plate for selectively fixing said actuating linkage means and said table engaging clamps in said first position, whereby removal of said base plate from a table by unauthorized persons may be prevented;

turntable means rotatably mounted on said base plate;

and fastening means for securing a television set to said turntable, said fastening means being accessible only when said base plate is removed from a table.

4. The mount of claim 3 wherein said fastening means comprises a plurality of screws, and wherein said base plate and said turntable means are so configured and disposed when assembled as to prevent access to said screws from therebetween.

5. The mount of claim 4 wherein said plurality of screws are located on a common circle, the center of said circle corresponding with said pivot axis of said turntable means, and wherein said base plate ha a single hole so located as to lie directly beneath said common circle, whereby said screws are accessible one at a time through said base plate hole as said turntable means is rotated relative to said base plate.

6. The mount of claim 5, wherein said base plate hole normally has removably mounted therein first stop means which cooperates with second stop means mounted on said turntable means, whereby rotation of said turntable means through an are greater than 360 relative to said base plate is prevented.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,867,763 7/1932 Rose 108-8 1,970,660 8/1934 La Fever 10952 2,876,051 3/1959 Fox 308-227 3,067,976 12/1962 Popowitz 248349 3,127,141 3/1964 Elliston 248117.6 3,152,218 10/1964 Blanco 174-70 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TURNTABLE TYPE OF TELEVISION MOUNT ADAPTED TO BE LOCKED TO A MOBILE OVER-BED TYPE OF HOSPITAL TABLE COMPRISING: A HORIZONTAL BASE PLATE SPANNING A TABLE TOP; TABLE ENGAGING CLAMPS SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE; LINKAGE MEANS MOUNTED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE AND CONNECTED TO SAID CLAMPS FOR SELECTIVELY MOVING SAID CLAMPS TO EITHER A FIRST POSITION WHEREIN SAID BASE PLATE IS SECURED TO A TABLE, OR A SECOND POSITION WHEREIN SAID BASE PLATE IS FREELY REMOVABLE FROM A TABLE; LOCK MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID BASE PLATE FOR SELECTIVELY FIXING SAID LINKAGE AND SAID CLAMPS IN SAID FIRST POSITION; A TURNTABLE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE UPPER FACE OF SAID BASE PLATE; A PLURALITY OF SCREW HOLES LOCATED ON A COMMON CIRCLE IN SAID TURNTABLE, THE CENTER OF SAID CIRCLE CORRESPONDING WITH THE PIVOT AXIS OF SAID TURNTABLE; SAID SCREW HOLES ACCOMMODATING SCREWS PASSING UPWARDLY THERETHROUGH FOR SECURING A TELEVISON SET TO SAID TURNTABLE; ACCESS TO SAID SCREWS BEING BLOCKED BY SAID BASE PLATE EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE ACCESS HOLE LOCATED IN SAID BASE PLATE DIRECTLY BENEATH SAID COMMON CIRCLE, WHICH ACCESS HOLE PROVIDES ACCESS TO SAID SCREW HOLES ONE AT A TIME AS SAID TURNTABLE IS ROTATED RELATIVE TO SAID BASE PLATE, AND WHICH ACCESS HOLE IS INACCESSIBLE WHEN THE MOUNT IS SECURED TO A TABLE; WHEREBY A TELEVISION SET MAY BE REMOVED FROM THE MOUNT ONLY WHEN THE MOUNT IS DETACHED FROM A TABLE. 